AdventurePeter
New Member
- Joined
- Jun 20, 2022
- Messages
- 2
Hi All,
I have an older yacht in Australia where i would like to replace the current solar system. The batteries are 12v. There is limited room on a yacht for solar Panels. I can fit four larger panels only (say 4 X 380w = 1520w). To minimise shading issues and maximise output i will use one MPPT controller per solar panel. This will also allow easier migration to Lithium as i can move one or more MPPT controllers to a new lithium battery bank over time moving off AGM batteries (will require additional cabling but there would be a controller per panel to allow for Lithium battery configuration for the controllers connected to lithium.) The distance from the panels to the the location of the proposed solar controllers and batteries is about 13m. I would like to get 48v panels as this will significantly reduce the size of the wires required for the 13m run to the preferred location of MPPT controllers near the batteries. The solar controllers output would go to a pos and neg bus bar then will run max amp cables to the batteries and shunt.
I am trying to find 48v 350w/380w solar panels similar to the many 350w/380w 12v panels being offered on Australian ebay/amazon etc. The 380w 12v panels weight is around 12kg and are 157cm X 77cm X 3.5cm which are about the largest i can fit in the limited available space.
So I am trying to find if there are any 48v Solar panels of a similar wattage, weight and size to the 12v panels that are readily available. I found only a small number of 48v panels and these were around twice the weight of the 12V panels (less weight is helpful on a yacht).
An alternative to 48v Panels would be to use the readily available 12v panels and deal with the higher amps. I would locate the 4 MPPT controllers close the panels to keep wire size small (2.5m for example). Have 4 solar disconnect switches and fuses, and then a common high amp positive and negative bus bar on the output side of the controllers, located close to the controllers. Then run large max amp cables from the bus bars about 11m to the batteries and shunt.
The 48v solution seems more ideal as the amps for the solar controllers will be less (less cost for controllers) and the cable sizes less, and the location of the controllers would be more ideal. Strange there are few 48v panels easily available in Australia (or I dont know where to find them like i can find 12v panels)
Thanks for any suggestions.
I have an older yacht in Australia where i would like to replace the current solar system. The batteries are 12v. There is limited room on a yacht for solar Panels. I can fit four larger panels only (say 4 X 380w = 1520w). To minimise shading issues and maximise output i will use one MPPT controller per solar panel. This will also allow easier migration to Lithium as i can move one or more MPPT controllers to a new lithium battery bank over time moving off AGM batteries (will require additional cabling but there would be a controller per panel to allow for Lithium battery configuration for the controllers connected to lithium.) The distance from the panels to the the location of the proposed solar controllers and batteries is about 13m. I would like to get 48v panels as this will significantly reduce the size of the wires required for the 13m run to the preferred location of MPPT controllers near the batteries. The solar controllers output would go to a pos and neg bus bar then will run max amp cables to the batteries and shunt.
I am trying to find 48v 350w/380w solar panels similar to the many 350w/380w 12v panels being offered on Australian ebay/amazon etc. The 380w 12v panels weight is around 12kg and are 157cm X 77cm X 3.5cm which are about the largest i can fit in the limited available space.
So I am trying to find if there are any 48v Solar panels of a similar wattage, weight and size to the 12v panels that are readily available. I found only a small number of 48v panels and these were around twice the weight of the 12V panels (less weight is helpful on a yacht).
An alternative to 48v Panels would be to use the readily available 12v panels and deal with the higher amps. I would locate the 4 MPPT controllers close the panels to keep wire size small (2.5m for example). Have 4 solar disconnect switches and fuses, and then a common high amp positive and negative bus bar on the output side of the controllers, located close to the controllers. Then run large max amp cables from the bus bars about 11m to the batteries and shunt.
The 48v solution seems more ideal as the amps for the solar controllers will be less (less cost for controllers) and the cable sizes less, and the location of the controllers would be more ideal. Strange there are few 48v panels easily available in Australia (or I dont know where to find them like i can find 12v panels)
Thanks for any suggestions.